MADURAI: The circuit bench of Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Madurai recently directed the doctors of a private hospital to pay a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to a patient after the doctors accidentally placed a foreign object inside her body during surgery in March 2016.
The 30-year-old woman was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst at the hospital and underwent surgery to get the cyst removed on March 15, 2016. Even after being discharged from the hospital, she suffered from abdominal pain and other complications and consulted the same hospital many times but the pain did not subside.
She then approached BHEL Hospital, where doctors found a foreign object — a mopping pad — along with a part of bowel loops, and removed it after surgery in December 2016. The woman later realised that the doctors at the private hospital removed her ovary without informing her.
She then sought compensation of Rs 99 lakh over alleged medical negligence and filed a complaint to the commission.
The private hospital’s counsel refused medical negligence in treatment and submitted that the foreign object, even if it was found in the abdomen, was not placed by the doctors at the private hospital but may have been carelessly placed by some other doctors who performed surgery after her discharge from their hospital.
Presiding Judicial Member of the bench, S Karuppiah, confirmed negligence by the private hospital over seeking consent when a part was removed from the patient, noting that the hospital also failed to maintain the records of the patient.
The private hospital doctors carelessly placed a foreign object inside the patient, which was understood as per their written version that states that two mop pads were used during the surgery. From this admission, it is concluded that one mop pad was carelessly kept inside the abdomen and the incision was closed by the doctor.
The commission stated that when a doctor wrongly or carelessly placed foreign particles such as scissors, metal plates, screws, mop pad, needles or other objects inside the patient's body while performing surgery, that is nothing but gross negligence on their part.
The patient suffered pain, mental agony, family and financial problems and also incurred monetary loss as she was unnecessarily made to undergo another surgery and medical treatment.
The commission then directed the hospital to pay Rs 25 lakh compensation to the woman for her pain, suffering and mental agony, and the hospital’s medical negligence.